The present invention relates in general to driver controls for automotive vehicles with a manual shift transmission, and, more specifically, to driver feedback to indicate when a shift change is recommended or to provide other event notifications.
Modern powertrain control systems monitor many vehicle parameters and execute sophisticated algorithms to optimize powertrain performance in real time. Depending upon regulatory requirements, the preference of the driver, or other factors, the optimization may be directed to different objectives such as best fuel economy, best power/acceleration, or a tradeoff between them. In an automatic transmission vehicle, the shift points between transmission gears may be determined and implemented by the powertrain controller in accordance with an optimization algorithm.
In a vehicle with a manually-controlled transmission, the powertrain controller does not implement a gear change. It is determined by the manual action of the driver. Nevertheless, it is common for the powertrain controller to run the algorithm for identifying an optimum time for shifting the gear and to generate a visual display to advise the driver when the optimum shift time occurs. A visual cue has been generated on the instrument cluster telling the driver when he or she should shift for optimal performance and/or increased vehicle fuel economy. This indication is usually in the form of an indicator light or a pop-up icon on a display. These require the driver to divert attention to the instrument cluster which is undesirable. Furthermore, the driver may not notice the visual cue and thus miss the opportunity to achieve better performance.